The packing and washing house at Five Penny Farm in Floyd this week became the scene of the annual local foods “Meet-and-Eat,” a networking day for local growers, grocers and chefs.
As a farmers market groupie and known food lover, I was lucky enough to be invited for the second time. Sponsored by the Blue Ridge Growers Cooperative and local foods distribution group Good Food, Good People, the event seeks to bring organic produce and natural and free-range meat producers together with buyers to help plan the next year’s crops. It’s also a time for farmers to socialize, and everyone to enjoy potluck dishes cooked with local, seasonal foods.
From pasta shells stuffed with winter squash and dressed with pesto, to pasture-rasied chicken wings and rice bake, the food is a main attraction. But the conversation and the planning is even more important. While there I met a woman who works at Virginia Tech to help foster local food distribution networks, and I met my first bee-keeper. I peppered him with questions about my idea to establish a bee hive to help increase the number of local bees, given the massive die-offs across the country this year.
According to this beekepper, who rents out his hives to farmers in a 100-mile radius, catastrophic collapse disorder that is devestating industrial beekeepers and the large-scale conventional farms dependent on them, has not yet hit local hives. Mites that weaken honeybees are an ongoing problem, however.
The evening ended with organic fair trade coffee and desserts such as homemade beet and berry brownies. I’ll admit, beets seemed an odd addition to me at first, too. But then you have to consider: most of the beets grown in Europe and America are processed for sugar, not eaten as vegetables. The brownies were moist, sweet and delicious.
About 40 people attended the meet-and-eat, organizers said.
Tags: beets, Floyd, local food, organic farming, Virginia
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